21: 9/11

From News Nation:

“9/11: Remembering 21 years later”

(Flowers and US flags are seen on the 9/11 Memorial in New York, on September 10, 2022, one day before the 21st anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania)

Sunday marks the 21st year since the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil that killed nearly 3,000 people. Americans gather in remembrance to honor the victims of the devastating attacks with moments of silence, reading of victims’ names and other tributes. While communities will gather around the nation, victims’ relatives and dignitaries will convene Sunday at the places where hijacked jets crashed on Sept. 11, 2001 — the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania.

President Joe Biden is expected to deliver remarks and lay a wreath at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial. Events begin at sunrise with a flag unfurling on the west side of the Pentagon in honor of the 184 people who were killed in the 2001 terrorist attack on the Pentagon. The president tweeted Sunday morning, remembering those who were lost: “Twenty-one years later, we keep alive the memory of all the precious lives stolen from us at Ground Zero, in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon. To the families and loved ones who still feel the ache, Jill and I hold you close in our hearts. We will never forget.” First lady Jill Biden will deliver remarks in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at the Flight 93 National Memorial, in honor of the 40 passengers and crew members who crashed their plane during an attack to retake control of Flight 93 from hijackers who were headed for the U.S. Capitol in Washington. In New York City, Vice President Kamala Harris will honor all those who were lost during the 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. By tradition, she will not speak at the ground zero ceremony. At the National September 11 Memorial, victims’ relatives will read aloud the names of the dead.

The attacks have cast a long shadow on the personal lives of thousands of people who survived, responded or lost loved ones, friends and colleagues. Readers often add personal remarks that form an alloy of American sentiments about Sept. 11 — grief, anger, toughness, appreciation for first responders and the military, appeals to patriotism, hopes for peace, occasional political barbs, and a poignant accounting of the graduations, weddings, births and daily lives that victims have missed. Some relatives also lament that a nation that came together — to some extent — after the attacks have since splintered apart. So much so that federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies, which were reshaped to focus on international terrorism after 9/11, now see the threat of domestic violent extremism as equally urgent.

Other communities around the country are marking the day with candlelight vigils, interfaith services and other commemorations. Some Americans are joining in volunteer projects on a day that is federally recognized as both Patriot Day and a National Day of Service and Remembrance. The observances follow a fraught milestone anniversary last year. It came weeks after the chaotic and humbling end of the Afghanistan war that the U.S. launched in response to the attacks. But if this Sept. 11 may be less of an inflection point, it remains a point for reflection on the attack that killed nearly 3,000 people, spurred a U.S. “war on terror” worldwide and reconfigured national security policy.

It also stirred — for a time — a sense of national pride and unity for many, while subjecting Muslim Americans to years of suspicion and bigotry and engendering debate over the balance between safety and civil liberties. In subtle and plain ways, the aftermath of 9/11 ripples through American politics and public life to this day.

^ 21 years ago the United States came together in a time of horror. 21 years later the United States seems as far-apart as one can possibly be. ^

https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/sept11-anniversary/9-11-remembering-21-anniversary/